A bit of home town happenings along with personal events and the current status of the genealogy search.

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Saturday, March 17, 2012

Ides, Pi(s) & Paddy's . . .

There is a break in the rain . . . today. While it has rained most of the week and today was to be included in that I have yet to see a raindrop. So we have clouds both white and grayish and occasional sunshine. Earlier this week we attended Dino's training class at GDB and because it was raining so much I did not get a chance to photo the activities -- too bad because it was like a doggie scavenger game. It was held at a strip mall in the nearby town of Rohnert Park. Each pup (there were about ten or so attending) was given a piece of paper containing six tasks or events to accomplish in various stores in the mall. Because I didn't take photos I am including a recent photo of Dino in the backyard before the rain . . .

I used a new "App" named "Reflection" from the iTunes store and it allows you to take any photo that you have and make a mirror image -- so that is what the picture above is -- I plan to use the other features with other photos in the future. There are so many things possible with Apps I can hardly keep track of all the different ones that I have downloaded for my iPad. Speaking of iPads the lines are again long for the many folks purchasing the newly released iPad(3). I have the original version and I use it every day and find more uses for it all the time -- it did not stop me though, from buying a Kindle Touch (this week) also, to be used just for reading . . .

This Week

So -- besides GDB it has been a full week of "days" . . . besides my Grandson's sixth birthday on Monday there is the Ides of March, Pi Day and of course the biggie of the week -- St. Paddy's Day, today.

Pi Day -- so how do we celebrate that day -- there is some controversy though as you can see from the above collage, the purists would argue that the only "real" Pi day could only have occurred centuries ago.

I take a more relaxed view and say, hey, 3-4-12 is okay as a rounded remembrance. I don't let Pi get in my hair so to speak ever since my school days. Now, pie, cake, that's another matter . . . there was a website that I consulted for this, check out: Cake Wrecks it is a kick.

Now, the Ides of March . . . also coming from school days (Latin Class) I have always remembered the sayings associated with the Ides but I wonder what my favorite 3rd grade teacher -- Mrs. Ide -- would have to say about all that -- she was a fun teacher, drove a Hudson and had dachshunds . . . she also gave me several silver dollars as a reward for finding and returning a wallet that someone lost in our town . . . funny the things that you remember.

Saint Patrick's Day, not being Irish -- that I know of, it has been a day that has meant a variety of things. Mostly in the form of some celebration of sorts. In various cities that I have lived or visited on that day I can recall the mandatory (or else) wearing of green and the eating (and drinking) of a variety of things Irish. I certainly love corned beef and beef stew ( I made stew this week just thinking about it . . . )

So the stew -- on a cold rainy day making the recipe for the comfort food was amazing, the aroma filled the house -- we both loved it so much we had it two nights in a row -- and we have enough left for another night as well, just not in a row:

If you click on the above you'll see what a beautiful dish it is -- you can almost sense the flavors coming through . . . it was SO good.

Our Happening Town . . .

A couple of things that are current in the town that we love and live in are included in the following collage. Everyday we are so glad to live in this community. Where else would you find the kinds of events and signs of humanity that I include here. One is a very light-hearted approach to our view of life and the other much more meaningful and thoughtful.

Project Status This Week

Due to the weather, the project work has been scaled back except for the work that can be done indoors and/or the astute contractor who sees a couple of hours break n the weather and send a couple of workers to attend to doable things . . .

The focus this week was on the new wall in the master where a new slider was installed and the previous single door removed. It involved several sessions (the folks are perfectionists) and it looks great and is almost ready for painting. The other project that could be done -- piecemeal -- is replacing the rotted walkway with new pressure-treated boards. This runs along side our home and Dino actually likes walking on that a lot . . . the boards cover a cement drainage.

Dino versus the other Brand

Dino this week has had to play indoors mostly. He does not mind going out in the rain, it is mostly me that finds it inconvenient to be in the rain playing with the dog . . .it is not the case with all dogs as you can see in the next pic -- some dogs, when they have to play indoors go all out. so far Dino has remained his quiet self, we are so glad.

I can't imagine walking into the kitchen and seeing the above. Both dogs have the same pose, they just are relaxing after different activities.

A New Look to the Old Website

I am way out of my comfort zone with web designing (among other things). I have been pondering changing the appearance of the site (www.danhiles.com) but would rather submit to a root canal day at the DMV than to tackle the job. But I enlisted the help of the man who developed the software that I use and he updated the software for me and then I changed the template for the site.

Click on the above and you can see how some of the pages look now. Certainly feel free to give me your comments and/or suggestions. There are many features that can be utilized when accessing the site to make your visit more interesting and rewarding. There are some aspects though that I'll be working on in the coming days and weeks -- it all just takes time. I for one like the color change and the more refreshing look.
All of the contents ate still the same and more will be added as I can.

And on the above shows the 6 folks who have birthdays today -- St Pat's Day -- one of them is Dan Murphy, just lucky I guess . . .

Look Who is a Cousin

While on Geni the other day, I could not believe what I found out. For years I have enjoyed the music of a very special country singer -- Reba Nell McEntire. I even once, while at a silent auction at one of the local wineries here -- much to the chagrin of Gail -- placed a bid on a autographed CD and a TV script and won those -- but NOW I find out that we are cousins. It is such a delightful surprise (for me anyway). I don't suppose we'll be exchanging messages or having each other over for dinner as we hardly do that with relatives that we know about and are geographically close . . .

Click on the above and you can see the connection between us (if you can follow it). To me it is fun to know that we are in the "same" family so to speak. And I just recently saw her story on "Who Do You Think You Are" what a coincidence. Check out Geni and maybe you can find the others that we are related to . . .

Well that is more than enough for one week -- I had other things to add but they will have to wait til the next post. I hope your week was good too -- we are going to have "burger Saturday night" see you in a few.

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About Me

I grew up in Illinois and eventually went to college in Los Angeles -- CSULA. I have lived in Southern California and Norhtern California. I have been retired for over 10 years and live in the wine country of Sonoma County -- Healdsburg.